Seal assembly for goggle valves

ABSTRACT

An improved seal assembly for goggle valves of the type including valve bodies connected to the ends of adjoining gas mains with a planar opening between the bodies normal to the flow of gas in the mains and a two-position valve closure in the opening for closing the mains against the flow of gas when the closure is in one position and opening the mains when it is in the other position. The seal assembly includes an inner rigid primary seal and an outer flexible secondary seal between both valve bodies and the portion of the valve closure in the planar opening to prevent the escape of gas between the valve bodies and the valve closure. Preferably, the rigid seal comprises abutting planar sealing surfaces between the valve closure and valve bodies and the flexible seal comprises flexible sealing surfaces, such as silicone rubber, on the valve closure abutting rigid nonplanar sealing surfaces on the valve bodies.

United States Patent [1 1 Hale, Sr.

[111 3,738,616 I451 June 12, 1973 8/1966 Wolter 251/174 X PrimaryExaminer-Henry T. Klinksie m Attorney-Boyce C. Dent, Oscar B. Brumbackand Olin E. Williams [57] ABSTRACT An improved seal assembly for gogglevalves of the type including valve bodies connected to the ends ofadjoining gas mains with a planar opening between the bodies normal tothe flow of gas in the mains and a twoposition valve closure in theopening for closing the mains against the flow ofgas when the closure isin one position and opening the mains when it is in the other position.The seal assembly includes an inner rigid primary seal and an outerflexible secondary seal between both valve bodies and the portion of thevalve closure in the planar opening to prevent the escape of gas between the .valve bodies and the valve closure. Preferably, the rigidseal comprises abutting planar sealing surfaces between the valveclosure and valve bodies and the flexible seal comprises flexiblesealing surfaces, such as silicone rubber, on the valve closure abuttingrigid non-planar sealing surfaces on the valve bodies.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures l6 5 4e 4e 56 50 36A ,72

124 s X 2 77) 721 772 o as n l 26 46/ 96 I 96 34 l /44 I Patented June12, 1973 3,738,610

2 Sheets-Sheek 1 OPEN as a FIG.

INVENTOR.

ELDEN A. HALE,SR.

Patented .June 12, 1973 52 so 36A 72 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ELDEN A.HALE, SR.

BY an, 6. Ah/

1'. Field of the Invention: The invention relates generally to valvesand valve I actuation and more particularly to a pivoted bifaced valve.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

A goggle valve is used to shut off the flow of gas in a gas main orduct. They are especially necessary in ducts carrying toxic or explosivegases such as generated by blast furnaces, open hearths, or basic oxygenfurnaces in steel mills. Since workmen must sometimes work within ornear the gas mains, no gas must pass beyond the valve.

A conventional goggle valve generally consists of two valve bodiessecured to adjoining ends of a pair of aligned mains, a valve closure,and a clamping mechanism for clamping the valve bodies to the valveclosure. The valve bodies have an opening in them approximately the samesize as the gas main to permit passage of gas through the valve. Thevalve closure has two operating positions, open and closed. In theclosed" position, a solid disc is placed which is larger than theopening in the valve body. A similar disc is placed in the open positionbut has an opening therein approximately the same size as the opening inthe valve bodies. Thus, when the valve closure is pivoted so that theportion including the disc is aligned with the mains, the flow of gasthrough the mains is closed and when the open portion is pivoted intoaligment with the mains, gas flows through the valve.

A clamping mechanism, such as a jackscrew, may be used to clamp thevalve bodies against the valve closure when it is in operating position.To close the goggle valve, the two valve bodies are spread axially apartby the clamping mechanism and the valve closure is pivoted between themto the position where the disc is aligned with the mains and then thebodies are clamped against the valve closure. The valve bodies and thevalve closure have parallel machined surfaces which are abutted uponclamping of the valve bodies to provide a tight seal. When the valve isclosed, gas is unable to pass through the valve since the disc is largerthan the opening in the valve. If the valve leaks, it must leak to theoutside of the valve and not into the downstream main. To open thevalve, the valve bodies are spread apart and the closed portion ispivoted out of the opening between the valve bodies and the open portionof the valve closure is pivoted between the valve bodies. The bodies arethen reclamped and gas is free to pass through the valve.

Since both the open and closed" portions of the valve closure areattached to a single holder, it is apparent that only one portion can beclamped between the valve bodies at one time while the other is exposedto atmosphere where it usually becomes contaminated with dirt and oxidescale. When the contaminated portion is pivoted into position and thevalve bodies clamped against it, the metal to metal seal between thebodies and the closure may not provide a gas tight seal because of thepoor condition of the sealing surfaces. However, the valve bodies can beclamped tightly against the valve closure and the seal is usuallyconsidered satisfactory when it is bubble tight; that is, when a film ofsoapy liquid placed around the seal exhibits only small bubbles causedby leaking gas. In most installations, the valve is in a remote locationand a small amount of leakage to atmosphere can be tolerated. However,when the valve is in a congested area, leaking gas is a problem and anabsolute seal to atmosphere is desirable.

Some attempts have been made to improve the seal between the valvebodies and the valve closure by using flexible packing between them. Anexample of this type seal is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,425,662 which usesa rather complex arrangement of spring biased sliding valve seats withmultiple flexible packing elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present inventionis to provide an improved seal assembly for goggle valves of simpleconstruction and few moving parts utilizing the advantages of flexiblesealing material for positive sealing against the leakage of gas fromwithin the mains to atmosphere between the valve bodies and valveclosure.

This is generally accomplished by providing a primary rigid inner sealand a secondary flexible outer seal beween both the open" and closedportions of the valve closure and the valve bodies clamped against theportion of the closure in alignment with the valve bodres.

More particularly, the inner seal comprises rigid planar surfaces onboth sides of both portions of the valve closure abutting similarsurfaces on the valve bodies. The outer seal comprises flexible orresilient planar surfaces on both sides of both portions. of the valveclosure abutting non-planar surfaces on the valve bodies; suchnon-planar surfaces projecting into the flexible surfaces when the valvebodies are clamped against the closure. The non-planar surfaces arearranged to urge the valve bodies apart during pivoting of the valveclosure to prevent damage to the flexible seal surfaces. Thisarrangement does not require the use of precisely machined slidablesealing surfaces, biasing springs, multiple flexible seals, and the likeand the number of moving parts is minimized.

The above and further objects and .novel features of the invention willappear more fully from the following detailed description when the sameis read'in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to beexpressly understood, however, that the drawings are not intended as adefinition of the invention but are for the purpose of illustrationonly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings wherein like parts aremarked alike:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a goggle valve viewed coaxiallywith the gas mains showing the arrangement for spreading the valvebodies and for pivoting the valve closure from a closed to an openposition;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the valve of FIG. I in side elevation; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion of the seal assembly withinthe circle designated A in FIG. 2 showing the construction of the sealassembly with the seals on one side of the valve closure being shown inthe disengaged position and the other side showing the seals in theengaged position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The goggle valve generallydesignated by the numeral is best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.Generally, the valve includes a pair of valve bodies 12 and 14, a valveclosure 16, a valve body spreading mechanism 18, and a valve closurepivoting mechanism 20. The valve bodies 12 and 14 are secured toadjoining ends of generally aligned gas mains 22 and 24. As shown inFIG. 2, the valve body 12 on the left is rigidly secured to a flangeportion 26 of the gas main 22 by bolts 28. The valve body on the rightis similarly secured to a flange portion 30 of an expansion joint 32which is secured to the other gas main 24. The expansion joint 32 isconventional and accommodates axial movement of the valve body 14 whenthe bodies 12 and 14 are spread apart to permit pivoting of the valveclosure 16 to another posi' tion.

The valve bodies 12 and 14 are spaced apart as shown in FIG. 2 to definea planar opening 34 therebetween normal to the flow of gas and areconnected by three jackscrews 36A, 36B, and 36C. The valve closure 16 ispivotable about the top jack-screw 36A from a closed position, asillustrated in FIG. 1, to an open position with the closed portion movedto the left. The valve closure 16 includes a holder 38 to which issecured a closed portion 40 shown in alignment with the gas mains inFIG. 1 and an open portion 42 out of alignment with the gas mains 22,24. The closed portion 40 includes a sloid disc 44 of larger diameterthan the opening 46 through the valve bodies 12, 14 so that when theclosed portion of the closure 16 is aligned with the mains 22, 2.4, gasis not permitted to flow through the valve 10. The open portion 42 ofthe closure 16 is similar to the closed portion 40 except that it doesnot include a disc 44 so that when this portion is aligned with the gasmains 22, 24, gas is permitted to flow through the valve 10. Both theopen and closed" portions 40, 42 of the closure 16 includes seals forengagement with the valve bodies 12, 14 when the respective portions 40,42 are in alignment therewith as will be later explained.

The mechanism 18 for clamping and unclamping (spreading) the valvebodies l2, 14 includes the aforementioned jackscrews 36 which axiallyconnect the valve bodies. Each screw 36 is mounted for rotation in abearing holder 46 on the valve body 14 and is restrained by a bearing 48in holder 46 against axial movement. The other end of the jackscrew 36includes threads 50 threaded into mating threads in a similar holder 52on the other valve body 12. Thus, it can be seen that as the jackscrews36 are rotated, the threads 50 on the screws 36 and in the holders 52will cause the valve body 14 to move away from the other valve body 12.

The jackscrews 36 are rotated by movement of a chain 54 encircling asprocket 56 mounted on the end of each jackscrew 36 adjacent the bearing48. As best shown in the lower portion of FIG. 1, the chain 54 is loopedaround a pair of idler sprockets 58 rotatably mounted on a bracket 60attached to the bottom of the valve body 14. The chain 54 is also loopedaround a drive sprocket 62 mounted on the end of an output shaft 64 of agear motor 66 also secured to the same bracket 60. Thus, when the motor66 is energized, the chain 54 is rotated by the drive sprocket 62 andthereby rotates the jackscrews 36 to move the valve body 14 away fromthe other valve body 12. To clamp the valve bodies l2, 14 against thevalve closure 16, the motor 66 is merely energized to rotate in theopposite direction so that the jackscrews 36 are also rotated in theopposite direction to move the valve body 14 towards the other valvebody 12 until it seats against the valve closure 16 which slides alongjackscrews 36 until it abuts valve body 12. Although the jackscrews 36are preferably rotated by a gear motor 66, if desired, a gear boxmanually operated by a chain may be used (not shown). The gear motor 66is preferably provided with a chain 68 surrounding an input sprocket 70on the gear motor 66 for manual rotation of the jackscrews 36 in theevent of motor failure.

The valve closure 16 is hung on the top jackscrew 36A by a bracket 72surrounding the jackscrew between the valve bodies 12, 14 and is free topivot thereabout. The holder 38 also includes a channel 74 secured tothe bottom segment of the holder 38. A conventional roller chain 76 isnested in the channel 74 and is secured at each end thereof by a take-upscrew 78 extending through a post 80 fastened to the end of the holdersegment. A portion of the chain 76 is looped around a pair of idlerpulleys 82 rotatably mounted to the valve body 12. The chain 76 is alsolooped around a drive sprocket 84 mounted to the output shaft 86 of agear motor 88. Thus, when the motor 88 is energized, the drive sprocket84 causes the chain 76 to move relative to the idler sprockets 82thereby carrying the valve closure 16 with it to pivot the closure froman open to a closed position or vice versa. The gear motor 88 is similarto the gear motor 66 used to clamp and unclamp the valve bodies 12, 14and is similarly operated, including manual operation by a chain 90 ifdesired.

The open" and closed portions 40, 42 of the valve closure 16 eachinclude a seal assembly 92 as best illustrated in FIG. 3. Generally,each seal assembly 92 includes a ring 94 secured to the holder 38 whichabuts a sealing seat ring 96 on each valve body 12, 14. The ring 94 ispreferably secured to the holder 38 by screws 98 and includes an innerperipherial flange 100 extending axially from both sides of the ring 94.The flange 100 includes planar sealing surfaces 102 which engage similarplanar sealing surfaces 104 on sealing seat ring 96 secured to eachvalve body l2, 14 (seat ring 96 is not cross-hatched in FIG. 3 for thesake of clarity). Another axially extending flange 106 on the ring 94defines a groove 108 on both sides of the ring 94 in which a ring 110 offlexible sealing material is secured. The portion of rings 96 facing theflexible seal rings 110 preferably include raised annular beads 112having an apex 114 with sides 116 sloping towards the planar surface 104of the rings 96. When the valve bodies 12, 14

are clamped against the valve closure 16, these beads- 112 project intothe yielding flexible sealing rings 110 thereby providng a secondarygas-tight seal therewith.

The raised annular beads 112 on rings 96 are preferred since theyprovide a larger area of contact with the flexible rings 1 10 than woulda flat abutting surface. Nevertheless, flat abutting surfaces (notshown) can be used if desired.

The flanges 100 and 106 on the ring 94 include chamfers 118 along theiroutside edges so that as the valve closure 16 is pivoted about thejackscrew 36A, the chamfers 1 18 will ride up along the sloping surfaces116 of the annular beads 114 and thereby force the valve bodies l2, l4apart. This avoids damage to the flexible sealing rings 110.

The flanges 100, 106 on the ring 94 preferably include sloping surfaces120 on the sides next to the flexible sealing rings 110 forming keystoneshaped grooves 108 in which the rings 110 are retained. Thus, theflexible sealing rings 110 are easily replaced when they become worn ordamaged by merely pivoting the appropriate portion of the valve closure16 out of engagement with the valve bodies 12, 14 and pulling the ringsout of the grooves. Thereafter, new sealing rings can be easily insertedin the grooves 108. If desired, grooves 108 may have straight'sides anda conventional adhesive may be used between the sealing rings and thegrooves to secure the rings therein.

The flexible sealing rings 111) can be made from either a compressiblesubstance such as sponge rubber or plastic or from a non-compressiblesubstance such as solid rubber. Preferably, the material is made fromsolid silicone rubber since it is heat resistant to the extent necessaryand resists attack from most chemicals likely to be present in the gas.

In the event that the sealing material is made from a non-compressiblesubstance, then a relief should be provided to receive the materialdisplaced by the projection of the raised annular beads 112 into theyielding material. This is preferably accomplihsed by making the base ofthe groove 108 wider than the base of ring 110 to form a keystone shapedgroove as mentioned above. By using a ring 110 ofrectangularcross-section, the material displaced by the projection ofbeads 112 into the ring 110 can flow into the open areas 122 on thesides of the groove 108. The ring 1 may also bubble up slightly aroundthe beads 112 as shown on the right side of FIG. 3. A suitable adhesivecan be used to secure the base of the rings 110 to the base of thegrooves 108.

if desired, grooves 108 may be formed with straight instead of slopingsides and a relief area (not shown) approximately the same cross-sectionas, and a mirror image of, the beads 112 can be formed in the base ofthe flexible ring 110. Thus, the material displaced by "the beads 112can fill this relief.

OPERATION Assuming that the valve closure 16 is positioned with theopen" portion 42 in alignment with the gas mains 22, 24 with the closedportion 40 pivoted out of engagement, the closed portion 40 may beplaced into operation by first unclamping the valve bodies 12, 14,pivoting the valve closure 16 to the desired position, with the openportion 42 to the right as shown in FIG. 1, and reclamping the valvebodies. The valve bodies 12, 14 are unclamped by energizing the gearmotor 66 to rotate in the appropriate direction which will rotate thejackscrews 36 by means of the chain 54. The valve body 12 being rigidlyfixed to the gas main 22, will remain stationary and the other valvebody 14 I will move axially away from the valve body 12, its axialmovement being accommodated by the flexible diaphragm portion 124 of theexpansion joint 32. Thereafter, the gear motor 88 is energized to pivotthe valve closure 16 to the position desired by means of the chain 76.When this position is reached, the motor 66 is energized to rotate inthe opposite direction to rotate the jack-screws 36 in the oppositedirection to move the valve body 14 into clamping position against theseal assembly 92 on the valve closure 16. The same procedure is used toagain put the open portion 42 of the valve closure 16 in alignment withthe gas mains 22, 24 to permit the flow of gas through the valve 10.When the valve closure 16 is pivoted, the sides 116 of the annular beads112 engage the chamfers 118 on the flanges 11111, 106 and urge the valveclosure 16 to a central position between the valve bodies 12, 14! if ithas not already moved to that position. This avoids damage to theflexible sealing rings 110 as they slide past the annular beads 112 onthe rings 96.

Thus, it can be seen that the present invention successfully makes useof both a rigid primary seal towards the inner or gas side of the valveclosure and a flexible secondary seal on the outer or atmosphere side ofthe valve closure. The construction is simple and rugged and uses aminimum of moving parts; the flexible sealing material is easilyreplaceable when worn or damaged.

Accordingly, the invention having been shown in its best embodiment andmode of operation, that which is desired to be claimed by Letters Patentis:

I claim: 1. An improved seal assembly for goggle valves of the typeincluding:

valve bodies connected to the ends of adjoining gas mains and defining aplanar opening therebetween normal to the flow of gas in said mains;

a valve closure having an open portion and a closed portion movable intosaid planar opening for opening and closing said mains to the flow ofgas therein, both of said open and closed portions adapted for sealingengagement with said valve bodies when positioned in said planaropening;

said valve bodies being movable towards the portion of said closure insaid opening for clamping engagement therewith,

the improvement comprising:

an inner circumferential rigid sealing means on said open and closedportions of said closure for primary sealing engagement withcorresponding circumferential sealing seats on said valve bodies; and

an outer circumferential flexible sealing means on said open and closedportions of said closure for seats including circumferential rings ofresilient sealing material extending axially from the sides of said openand closed portions of said valve closure towards said sealing seats onsaid valve bodies,

said rings including yielding planar sealing surfaces engageable withcorresponding surfaces on said sealing seats when said valve bodies aremoved into clamping engagement with said valve closure,

said sealing seats on said valve bodies including raised annular beadsprojecting into said yielding planar sealing surfaces of said rings whensaid valve bodies are moved into clamping engagement with said valveclosure,

for preventing the escape of gas in said mains between said valve bodiesand said valve closure.

2. The seal assembly of claim 1 wherein said rings of resilient sealingmaterial are retained in circumferential grooves defined by inner andouter ring flanges, said flanges including chamfers engageable with saidannular beads for urging said valve bodies axially apart during movementof said valve closure in said planar opening to prevent damage to saidrings of resilient sealing material.

3. The seal assembly of claim 2 wherein the sides of said inner andouter ring flanges defining said grooves are sloped towards each otherfrom said valve closure projection of said beads into said rings.

6. The seal assembly of claim 1 wherein said raised beads include twosides sloping from an apex toward a planar surface on said sealingseats, said sides projecting into said rings of resilient sealingmaterial thereby providing an enlarged sealing contact areatherebetween.

1. An improved seal assembly for goggle valves of the type including:valve bodies connected to the ends of adjoining gas mains and defining aplanar opening therebetween normal to the flow of gas in said mains; avalve closure having an open portion and a closed portion movable intosaid planar opening for opening and closing said mains to the flow ofgas therein, both of said open and closed portions adapted for sealingengagement with said valve bodies when posiTioned in said planaropening; said valve bodies being movable towards the portion of saidclosure in said opening for clamping engagement therewith, theimprovement comprising: an inner circumferential rigid sealing means onsaid open and closed portions of said closure for primary sealingengagement with corresponding circumferential sealing seats on saidvalve bodies; and an outer circumferential flexible sealing means onsaid open and closed portions of said closure for secondary sealingengagement with said sealing seats including circumferential rings ofresilient sealing material extending axially from the sides of said openand closed portions of said valve closure towards said sealing seats onsaid valve bodies, said rings including yielding planar sealing surfacesengageable with corresponding surfaces on said sealing seats when saidvalve bodies are moved into clamping engagement with said valve closure,said sealing seats on said valve bodies including raised annular beadsprojecting into said yielding planar sealing surfaces of said rings whensaid valve bodies are moved into clamping engagement with said valveclosure, for preventing the escape of gas in said mains between saidvalve bodies and said valve closure.
 2. The seal assembly of claim 1wherein said rings of resilient sealing material are retained incircumferential grooves defined by inner and outer ring flanges, saidflanges including chamfers engageable with said annular beads for urgingsaid valve bodies axially apart during movement of said valve closure insaid planar opening to prevent damage to said rings of resilient sealingmaterial.
 3. The seal assembly of claim 2 wherein the sides of saidinner and outer ring flanges defining said grooves are sloped towardseach other from said valve closure thereby forming keystone grooves forretaining said rings of resilient sealing material.
 4. The seal assemblyof claim 2 in which said rings of resilient sealing material are securedby adhesive between said rings and said grooves.
 5. The seal assembly ofclaim 1 wherein said rings of resilient seal material are made fromdeformable sealing material and said circumferential grooves includerelief areas for receiving the material displaced by the projection ofsaid beads into said rings.
 6. The seal assembly of claim 1 wherein saidraised beads include two sides sloping from an apex toward a planarsurface on said sealing seats, said sides projecting into said rings ofresilient sealing material thereby providing an enlarged sealing contactarea therebetween.